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Most of us grew up with a very damaging story that something is wrong with us. Gradually - or as in my case, suddenly - we become resolved not to believe this anymore. It takes a dedicated practice to follow up on that resolution, because the conditioning is very strong to keep generating self-demeaning stories.

Tara Brach

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Tara Brach
Age: 71
Born: 1953
Born: May 17
Peace Activist
Psychologist
Teacher
Stories
Cases
Conditioning
Become
Grew
Gradually
Self
Takes
Resolution
Something
Practice
Dedicated
Believe
Wrong
Suddenly
Demeaning
Story
Anymore
Generating
Strong
Case
Damaging
Keep
Follow
Resolved

More quotes by Tara Brach

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If we're not open to losing, we're not open to loving.
Tara Brach
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I knew I could hold myself with that absolute love and compassion.
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I would say both Western psychology and Eastern paths would recognize that we get caught up in feeling like a separate self and an unworthy self.
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Underneath the stress is fear, and the biggest is our own personal fear of failure.
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Presence is not some exotic state that we need to search for or manufacture. In the simplest terms, it is the felt sense of wakefulness, openness, and tenderness that arises when we are fully here and now with our experience.
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When we put down ideas of what life should be like, we are free to wholeheartedly say yes to our life as it is.
Tara Brach
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There are stories we take on from our culture, and there are stories based on our own personal history. Some of those stories lock us in limiting beliefs and lead to suffering, and there are others that can move us toward freedom.
Tara Brach
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Extend an act of kindness each day. No one has to know. It can be a smile, reassuring words, a small favor - without expecting something in return.
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If you can, do a gratitude practice: Each day write down three things you're grateful for. There are different ways to do this. You can have a gratitude buddy, someone with whom, at the end of the day, you exchange messages listing these three things you are grateful for. Also, you can journal it or reflect on it silently.
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If you let someone know you appreciate him or her, especially when you're going to disagree, it gets that person's defenses down.
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Perhaps the biggest tragedy of our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns...We may want to love other people without holding back, to feel authentic, to breathe in the beauty around us, to dance and sing. Yet each day we listen to inner voices that keep our life small.
Tara Brach
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Meditation can change the flavor of the season.
Tara Brach
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Awakening self-compassion is often the greatest challenge people face on the spiritual path.
Tara Brach
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People don't behave in angry ways unless they are feeling stressed and conflicted too.
Tara Brach
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I think it's possible to have experiences of love without attachment, but I think part of our conditioning is to grasp at times, especially when there are unmet needs. It's part of our nervous system to hold on to where we think those needs will be met.
Tara Brach
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The renowned seventh-century Zen master Seng-tsan taught that true freedom is being without anxiety about imperfection.
Tara Brach
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The boundary to what we can accept is the boundary to our freedom.
Tara Brach
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When we open to love, we become love.
Tara Brach
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My first book, 'Radical Acceptance', grew out of the suffering of feeling personally deficient and unworthy. Because most of us are so quick to turn against ourselves, the teachings and practices of radical acceptance continue as a strong current in 'True Refuge': nurturing a forgiving, understanding heart is a basic step on the path.
Tara Brach
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Where desire ends up causing suffering is when it fixates.
Tara Brach